Rob Bradford

Rob Bradford joined WEEI.com after serving as a Red Sox beat writer for the Boston Herald and the Eagle-Tribune (Lawrence, Mass.). Prior to manning the Red Sox beat, he spent several years at the Lowell Sun. He has written two books: “Chasing Steinbrenner,” following the front offices of the Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays through the 2003 season, and “Deep Drive: A Long Journey to Discovering the Champion Within,” which he co-authored with Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell.

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Never has a Grapefruit League debut meant so much. OK, perhaps it's a bit of hyperbole, but there absolutely was some extra emphasis put on David Price's start Thursday against the Blue Jays at JetBlue Park. That's how important he is to this Red Sox team. What we witnessed in...

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The way things are going for the Red Sox and Eduardo Rodriguez, you might be able to harness that talk of a need for an April full of fill-in starts. Rodriguez took another big step toward re-entering the Red Sox' rotation, throwing three innings of live batting practice...

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- John Farrell has found another job. According to multiple major league sources, the former Red Sox manager has signed on to join the Cincinnati Reds as a scout. Farrell will begin by evaluating the Reds' own personnel. Since being fired by the Red Sox following the 2017 season,...

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Brian Johnson dominated a group primarily made up of Single-A hitters Tuesday on Field 2 at Fenway South, striking out 10 of the 17 batters he faced (8 swinging). But that wasn't the biggest takeaway from the lefty's day. It's what he said moments after the tune-up that truly...

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The Red Sox are going to be a good team. A strong case could be made they are going to be even better than the Yankees. But there is some cleaning up to do before March 29. Consider Tuesday the calm before the storm. The Red Sox had an off day. When they come back Wednesday...

DUNEDIN, Fla. -- Spring training is for identifying potential problems. The Red Sox might have found one. Thus far, the Red Sox infield defense isn't trending in the way the team most likely had hoped. At third base, Rafael Devers continues to be a work in progress. Xander Bogaerts' range isn't...

DUNEDIN, Fla. -- It was the reason why Hector Velazquez's start Monday might actually be of some interest. With 2 1/2 weeks left until Opening Day, there is still some uncertainty as to which members of the Red Sox's starting rotation will be ready to go. Eduardo Rodriguez (knee) just threw his...

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Roenis Elias is still competing for a spot on the Red Sox' roster, it's just not the one we thought he was vying for. At the outset of camp, it was believed Elias was in the mix for grabbing the fifth spot in the Red Sox' starting rotation, joining Brian Johnson and Hector...

JUPITER, Fla. -- We have a Bill Belichick sighting. After the Patriots head coach spent most of the recent NFL Combine laying low, Belichick was seen in a more relaxing, non-football environment Friday afternoon. Belichick spent the afternoon in the vacant Cardinals radio broadcast booth at Roger...

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The Red Sox were a middle-of-the-road offensive team in 2017, managing to hit the fewest number of home runs among American League teams in the most historic home run-hitting season ever. So, how could we possibly be talking about virtually the same group making history one year...